Sebrof, I think I know. I went into the archives and scanned many of your posts. Now I remember you. 😀
Directionality of wire
I am a fan of Chris Sommovigo's Black Cat and Airwave interconnects. I hope he does not mind me quoting him or naming him on this subject, but Chris does not mark directionality of his IC's. I recently wrote him on the subject and he responded that absent shunting off to ground/dialectric designs, the idea of wire directionality is a complete myth. Same with resistors and fuses. My hunch is that 95% of IC "manufacturers", particularly the one man operations of under $500 IC's mark directionality because they think it lends the appearance of technical sophistication and legitimacy. But even among the "big boys", the myth gets thrown around like so much accepted common knowledge. Thoughts? Someone care to educate me on how a simple IC or PC or speaker cable or fuse without a special shunting scheme can possibly have directionality? It was this comment by Stephen Mejias (then of Audioquest and in the context of Herb Reichert's review of the AQ Niagra 1000) that prompts my question;
Thank you for the excellent question. AudioQuest provided an NRG-10 AC cable for the evaluation. Like all AudioQuest cables, our AC cables use solid conductors that are carefully controlled for low-noise directionality. We see this as a benefit for all applications -- one that becomes especially important when discussing our Niagara units. Because our AC cables use conductors that have been properly controlled for low-noise directionality, they complement the Niagara System’s patented Ground-Noise Dissipation Technology. Other AC cables would work, but may or may not allow the Niagara to reach its full potential. If you'd like more information on our use of directionality to minimize the harmful effects of high-frequency noise, please visit http://www.audioquest.com/directionality-its-all-about-noise/ or the Niagara 1000's owner's manual (available on our website).
Thanks again.
Stephen Mejias
AudioQuest
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-15-audioquest-niagara-1000-hifiman-he1000-v2-p...
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Can anyone tell me if this is accurate and has it been debunked as of late?Yes and no, the only wire that was, was LC-OFC (Linear Crystal- Oxygen free Copper) developed by Hitachi and Audio Technica some 25 years ago. It was heated up to a point where it crystallised the copper at the same time of being drawn into strands. Stereophile presented microscopic photos of the crystal structure and they were arrow shaped and lined up nose to tail, naturally the arrow head was pointed, and was considered as the flow direction. Sounded very good, BUT!!, trouble was that it was as fragile as cast-iron or glass. You couldn’t bend it much at all, if you did it cracked and cause micro air gaps between the crystals (sort of diode effect). Which resulted in worse sound than normal copper. Cheers George |
georgehifi Stereophile presented microscopic photos of the crystal structure and they were arrow shaped and lined up nose to tail, naturally the arrow head was pointed, and was considered as the flow direction. >>>>>That’s weird. I would have thought the flow direction would be the opposite, the EM wave would travel more easily - I.e., with less resistance - in the head to tail direction. That direction would present a smoother pathway. Like stroking the quills of a porcupine in the direction of the quill tips, not the opposite direction, against the quill tips. |
@nonoise Yes, I am versed in statistics. The chances of many people believing something cannot be estimated without reference to either a lot more data (such as how many don't believe it), or simplifying assumptions. I would point out that lots of people believe things without foundation. See especially the Nazi's strategy of The Big Lie, and note how it has been broadly applied in the modern world. |
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